Thank you so much for the reference to these threads. Those kids sound very similar to mine in that they study math for the pure love of it. The recommendation for the special program within UCSB was particularly helpful.
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Thanks for your reply! His stats are: GPA 4.0 (his small school does not have honors/AP classes, but they have provided him college/grad level math 2 hours a day since 8th grade); SAT: 1530. He does pretty well in AMC, AIME, but heās not a math contest star; he likes to take his time on problems. He has done many residential math camps and LOVED them: Camp Epsilon, MathPath and MathCamp Canada/USA (twice). He earned 5s on AP Calculus BC; Physics (Mechanical); CS and Latin. He plays piano beautifully but refuses to participate in any piano contests (heās opposed to doing any task that would be solely for the purpose of strengthening is college application ā getting him to even write the Common App essay has been a challenge!) Heās looking mainly for a school with other kids who just love math as much as he does.
Re: Chicago v. a school like Oxford, I would much prefer him to have to take a broad set of requirements outside of math (I feel like heāll have time in grad school to focus on math 100%.) But I do realize itās his choice!
Thanks so much to all for your excellent advice!
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Thank you for this reply! We are just discouraged about MIT because my son had classmates this year with applications that were more impressive than his (including the same extremely advanced math curriculum, but more extra curriculars) who were not accepted to MIT, CalTech, Harvard or Princeton, so we are trying to be realistic!
I want to be sure about your comment re: U of Chicago; are you saying that his chances will be much better if he applies early decision? We were wondering about applying ED to Chicago, but Iām hesitant about that because I fear his chances of admission would be slim even ED, and perhaps he should apply ED to a more realistic choice, such as Rice.
Thanks so much!
Check out UCSBās college of creative studies math major. It lets students jump straight into advanced math and basically create their own curriculum.
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What grade is he in now?
I love this idea. Thank you! And he has a good friend who will be in a similar program at UCSB for computer science. He is a rising senior.
Reed College comes to mind for your student. A friendās daughter studied math at Reed and is now completing her PhD in math. Itās a āfitā school so a visit prior to applying/attending is recommended. My friendās daughter found her people at Reed. I also second the recommendation for the college of creative studies at UCSB. And in terms of complicated board games, Cal has a great store close by for like minded students on Telegraph (I think itās called games of Berkeley). Good luck!
Oxbridge is great for math but really far from California. Just a practical thought.
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Difficult to know what to do - but ED or ED2 is the way to go for UChicago. UCs are very strong in math of course as well. Our family wouldnāt send a kid to Texas due to the political situation there.
Adding U Washington and U Wisconsin to the many great suggestions.
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My son didnāt even apply to UChicago because he saw the two year core curriculum and barfed. He said āI hated taking all that āstuffā in HS, why would I want to waste my first two years of college doing it again?ā.
The good thing about competitive math experience for Oxford applicants is the preparation it gives you for the interview phase of their process. You get 20-25 minutes with two, maybe three sets of tutors and you have to be fast on your feet. My son felt very comfortable with that kind of pressure given his competition experience. MAT score and interview performance are the two biggest factors in receiving a maths offer at Oxford. You would be surprised at the number of kids each year who shoot the lights out on the MAT but than crash at the interview phase.
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UMN and UIUC both have top-notch math programs, and both would be safeties for your kid. UMN is also likely to offer merit aid, and even UIUC does so sometimes.
If your kid would be happy with a small school, and you could afford it, Harvey Mudd of the Claremont Colleges and Carleton in Minnesota are tops in undergrad math, and while they are reaches, your kid seems to be a very strong applicant for them, and their acceptance rate of Carleton is 18% for boys, versus MIT being 5%.
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However, with calculus BC in 7th grade with college and graduate level math after that, the student may be too advanced in math to avoid running out of math offerings at most LACs, probably including Harvey Mudd.
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CGU offers a PhD in math, and those classes are also available to Mudd students through the consortium. https://www.cgu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/CGU-IMS-GraduateMathCourses.pdf The 5Cās math faculty is phenomenal. What could be more of a concern for some is the breadth of the required core curriculum at Mudd - one would need to have some level of fondness for lab sciences as well as pure math.
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Iād make sure you do a deep dive into your California publics. Your budget may be flexible, but you have some awesome in-state options, and Iād be stunned if your son was completely shut out of them (though admissions to the UCs is certainly very unique with respect to who gets in). The campuses Iād take a particularly close look at are:
- UC-Berkeley
- UCLA
- UC-San Diego
- UC-Irvine
- UC-Davis
- UC-Santa Barbara (including the College of Creative Studies option)
Then there are options where you can use cross-registration programs to your benefit. Personally, I think the Baltimore Collegetown Association might work well for your son. Your son might apply to both Johns Hopkins and Loyola Maryland. He might get into both (but at different price points) or perhaps only one (Iād be very surprised if he didnāt get into Loyola Maryland). After a studentās first year, they can take 2 classes/year at other universities in the association.
- Johns Hopkins
- Loyola Maryland (0.9 miles from Johns Hopkins): Offers a pure math concentration within the math major.
Another possibility is the Atlanta consortium (ARCHE): Admission rates at Emory & Georgia Tech would be similar, but both have strong math programs, and their offerings are increased due to the cross-registration available.
- Emory: 5 miles from Georgia Tech
- Georgia Tech: 5 miles from Emory
- Oglethorpe (offers a flagship match program): 6.5 miles to Emory, 8.6 miles to Georgia Tech
- Georgia State: 1.2 miles to Georgia Tech and 5.6 miles to Emory
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People have already recommended it, but UCLA. Many of my classmates (incoming c/o 26) have done 4+ quarters of university level math already, and it has a Top 10 math program. Itās also more stats-focused than other top schools. And since itās test optional, that comes down to course rigor.
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since you are from CA take a look at the College of Creative Studies at UCSB. The name makes it sound like an art program but it is actually more like a grad school for undergrads. Those in the program can take any class in the university, undergrad or grad, that they feel ready for and the prerequisites are waived. Many students go on to grad programs at top schools.
Itās a small program (less than 400 students total, spread over 8 majors) and wonāt be a fit for everyone. But if it is then itās probably an undergrad experience with few parallels. They like to talk to students considering the program to explain what they do so kids can make an informed decision.
See https://ccs.ucsb.edu/ for their general web page, also they have some student presentations about CCS at Visiting CCS | UCSB College of Creative Studies
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This is very helpful information ā thank you. We were concerned that Mudd might not be a great match because it does not have a graduate program, but the ability to take graduate courses at CGU might solve that. And to me, Mudd otherwise sounds amazing. I appreciate your warning about the broader requirements, including lab sciences, but as a parent I think some requirements to interact with real world science would be essential for his overall intellectual growth!
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Thank you for this observation. Sounds like you are at UCLA now. How do you like it? I was concerned UCLA might be too big for my socially shy son; is there a group of geek-type students at UCLA that seem to find each other? Do they play board games? (You might laugh at this question, but this is my sonās primary method of making friends!)
Thank you so much for these detailed recommendations. I did not know about the cross-registration options, and we definitely need to research these more! And I will certainly encourage him to apply to the UCSB College of Creative Studies. Several classmates from his school have had to go through many logistical struggles at college to skip math pre-requisites that they had taken in high school, so the CCS option offers a significant benefit on that point.
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Were they taken as actual college courses?